Eleven

Chapter Fifteen: The Pregnancy Glow

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the lovely JessStuckInBooks . This might/definitely sound slightly/totally stalkerish, but you gave my story a shout-out when you joined the Academy Fanfiction facebook group, and it brought a smile to my face.

You also mentioned you have a fanfic in the works...so maybe this will incentivize you to post? :) Eh, a girl can dream.

Chapter Fifteen: The Pregnancy Glow

"Eleven weeks," Gabriel exclaimed in disbelief, his voice muffled by the bathroom wall. I chuckled, scooting further down in the cozy bed and picking my makeshift bookmark off the nightstand. "I just can't believe it!"

"You've said that four times in the last ten minutes, Gabriel," I called back with a smile, placing the guitar pick snug between my book's pages before snapping it shut. The sounds of bottles clinking around as Gabriel continued his bedtime routine were like a lullaby as my eyelids drooped, and I fought to stay awake.

The sound of water running and then Gabriel brushing his teeth travelled to my ears, making me smile.

"So wha if I fooky did?" Gabriel mumbled around the toothbrush in his mouth. My will won a brief battle against my heavy eyelids, squinting open enough to see Gabriel leaning against the doorframe. Foaming at the mouth with toothpaste, hair looking like it'd been intimately acquainted with a blender, and wearing no more than a pair of patterned pajama pants slung low on his lean hips, he looked delicious. "I mean, fooky ship!"

Gabriel groaned, toothpaste flying in all directions before he spun back into the bathroom and disappeared around the corner.

"You know what else is crazy?" I called after him, placing the book on my nightstand and snuggling further into the warm covers. "In another week, I'll be twelve weeks pregnant!"

Gabriel stomped back around the corner after I over-exaggerated a gasp, the toothpaste absent but his hair just as wild.

"Are you getting sassy with me, Trouble?" He asked, giving me an unimpressed look before bringing both hands up to floss his teeth.

"Never, Gabriel," I assured him with an eyeroll.

"Come on! For real. You know it's hard to believe," Gabriel insisted between flossing each tooth, fixing me with a pointed look. "It's been the ten of us for a long time now. This changes everything."

"I know," I agreed hesitantly, wondering if it was a bad thing.

"In a good way, Sang," Gabriel assured me quickly with his own eye roll before disappearing around the corner again and calling over his shoulder. "A really, fucking awesome way."

"A really, fucking awesome way," I echoed under my breath in agreement, letting out a heavy sigh.

The bathroom light switched off, and Gabriel came strolling out with a thoughtful look on his face. He stepped up to the bottom of the bed, leaning a hand against one of the bedposts, and fixed his gaze on mine.

He looked...intense. Almost expressionless with how focused he was as he studied me lying on the bed underneath mountains of blankets.

"Gabriel?" I asked cluelessly, bringing a hand up to make sure nothing was on my face. But knowing him, he would've told me already.

Then a goofy grin spread across Gabriel's face, and he shook his head in what I could only describe as wonder.

"Sang, you're gonna have a fucking baby," Gabriel whispered, the grin only seeming to widen.

"I know, Gabriel," I answered, smiling in amusement as I let my hand drop back down to the mattress top.

"No, Sang," Gabriel shook his head again, his hand meeting my foot under the comforter and giving it a sharp tug. I slid down the mattress a few feet, my sleep shirt riding up against my back from the movement. "I don't think you understand. You're going to have a baby."